Nominations are accepted in the following Edison Award categories. Categories may be broken down into sub-categories which reflect the emerging innovations of each year.

Aerospace Innovation

Thomas Edison once said, "Someday we will harness the rise and fall of the tides and imprison the rays of the sun." For decades, our future in Space has captivated the imagination of millions and inspired many to dream of exploring strange new worlds and securing humanity’s future as a multi-planetary species. That future is here today. Space is rapidly becoming an everyday reality for a growing number of people around the world. A confluence of reduced launch costs and new technologies is bringing space within the grasp of many innovators and entrepreneurs. This budding commercial space industry offers solutions for a resource strapped planet and future colonization of other worlds. Opportunities for new innovations span a broad range of applications developed to solve problems here on Earth and that can be scaled to solve key problems in space. Topics sought for nomination cover diverse fields including space vehicles, propulsion systems, communications and sensors, habitats, sustainable ecologies, recycling and waste management, agriculture, biological and health sciences, nanotechnology, smart materials, alternative energy, resource extraction, manufacturing and construction, and more. Enter products and services here that impact the technology and industry concerned with both aviation and space flight, both aircraft and spacecraft.

Applied Technology

Little did Thomas Edison know that, upon the completion of his Menlo Park, New Jersey laboratory in 1876, he would invent the process we know today as Research and Development. At Menlo Park - and later at West Orange - Edison used a systematic process of innovation to churn out new-to-the-world technologies, including the world's first phonograph, the incandescent electric light, the system of electrical power, motion pictures, and the alkaline storage battery. These technologies transformed the lives of virtually every individual in the developed world from the 1870's to the 21st century. Enter products and services here that include the application of scientific knowledge to practical technological advancements in a wide array of environments. If possible, choose a more specific category to correspond with the specific environment of your innovation.

Athletics, Sports & Recreation

While sports and recreation were not central to most of Thomas Edison’s efforts, his body of work nevertheless has had an incredible impact in these fields by introducing workplace innovations that freed up time for leisure activities. Today’s innovators are focused on using their ideas to create safe environments, enhanced experiences and maximum enjoyment to people engaged in recreational activities. Types of products to enter may include toys & games, sporting/camping gear, sporting/fitness accessories, and other recreational products & services.

Collective Disruption

The Collective Disruption Award is presented to a group of organizations that together have conceived and developed transformative innovation through collaboration and co-creation. The organization(s) applying for this category may be established corporations, startups, social enterprises, as well as public or non-profit entities that have undertaken the challenge of working collaboratively with partners to create transformative innovation and market disrupting new solutions. The award can also be presented to an infrastructure or ecosystem platform provider that enables established large enterprise and entrepreneurial co-creation and collaboration.

Consumer Electronics & Information Technology

Thomas Edison is credited with several basic science breakthroughs. One in particular, called "The Edison Effect," came about as Edison was undertaking experiments on the early incandescent electric light. He noted that carbon from the filaments he used was being deposited in a particular pattern on the inside of several glass light bulbs. Edison's work demonstrated how a stream of these deposits could be manipulated and caused to follow specific paths. "The Edison Effect" became the underlying discovery leading to the invention of the vacuum tube. Enter products and services here that impact the use of electronic devices, network connectivity, computers and data, including the Internet of Things (IoT).

Consumer Goods

Edison believed products should be easy to buy, and priced in a way that multiple audiences could enjoy them. Edison marketed several types of phonographs ranging from super-premium to bare bones lines, ensuring that Edison records could be enjoyed by millions. He worked with concessionaires and created licensing arrangements to ensure broad distribution for all his Edison-branded products, ranging from motion pictures to batteries. Enter products here that make an impact on consumer lifestyles or on a cpg category/aisle. Products can be for home/office, indoor/outdoor and include innovative packaging designs across all retail channels.

Energy & Sustainability

Thomas Edison's invention of the incandescent electric light transformed the world of commerce as we know it, enabling workers to labor - and generate revenue - beyond daylight hours. But Edison was also a major proponent of energy conservation, and espoused the use of carbon-free energy forms as early as 1905 - when he invented the world's first storage battery. He said, "I'd put money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that." Enter products and services here that impact energy generation, efficiency and conservation, and protection of the environment.

Health & Wellness

In a radical statement for his day, Thomas Edison believed that physicians of the future would focus on wellness and preventive care rather than disease alone. He stated, "The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human body, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease." Enter products and services here that impact the self-care, complementary and alternative medicine, organics, stress-relief, and other similar products & services.

Industrial Design

Thomas Edison believed that innovation included not only the world of technology but the world of design. He was very focused on creating products that worked with the way people lived. Many of Edison's original phonographs, movie projectors, and Dictaphones are pleasing even to the contemporary eye because they were designed for high functionality, high quality, and lifestyle integration. Industrial design is the professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer. Enter products & services here that exemplify great industrial design. Examples of contemporary classics include: iPhone, Dyson Bladeless fan, Fit Bit Tracker, Norton Core, Joseph Joseph nesting bowls, Method (cleaning products packaging), and Nespresso Coffee machines.

Innovative Services

Service innovation is about doing things better and doing better things. It can be multi-dimensional, involving technology and product innovation, customer interface and service delivery, organizational innovations, and innovations related to new network and value chain configurations. In Edison's era, it was extraordinary for people to receive electrical power service when they were accustomed to using coal, kerosene, whale oil, wood or other forms of energy. Edison created a safe, convenient way for power to be consumed in homes and businesses, demonstrating that innovation is just as much about creating access to a product or delivering it as it is about inventing the product itself.

Living, Working & Learning Environments

Thomas Edison not only developed a systematic approach to innovation, he designed interior spaces and work environments that were conducive to fostering innovation. His Menlo Park and West Orange Laboratories offered unique interactive spaces as well as areas for solitude. The culture of innovation in Edison's workplaces was palpable to visitors and employees alike. Edison also designed innovative living spaces. Most notably, he developed a system for pouring entire two-story homes from concrete, offering low cost shelter for families. Enter products and services here that impact human surroundings at school, home, or work.

Media, Visual Communications & Entertainment

Thomas Edison's continuous innovations in the area of media not only led to new products and platforms, they also were a gateway to establishing new enterprises and industries. His media products and technology inventions provided opportunities for mass accessibility that revolutionized the way we interact with media on both a local and global level. Edison's introduction of the Kinetophone allowed individuals to watch moving pictures while listening to music on the Phonograph. His subsequent design and standardization of 35 millimeter celluloid film took the platform a step further by allowing studios to reduce costs and increase distribution. Wider film distribution caused movies to emerge as a popular form of mass entertainment, which laid the groundwork for what has become the motion picture industry. Enter products and services here that impact the creation, storage, and delivery of audio or visual media and all types of performance entertainment.

Medical/Dental

The first commercially purchasable fluoroscope for X-ray examinations was developed by Thomas Edison; the fundamental design of Edison's fluoroscope is still in use today. Enter products and services here that impact patients and providers in the healthcare field, both medical and dental.

Materials Science & Engineering

Edison’s advances in incandescent lights established just how crucial it was to get the right materials for durable filaments. Materials improvements underlie high tech electronics, aerospace, transportation and more. Advances in this area also enable new technologies such as modern construction, packaging, sports equipment, water purification and much that we take for granted. This category recognizes advances in the materials that extend what is possible, covering manipulation of structure and properties whether through nanotechnology, chemistry, metallurgy or formulation.

Social Innovation

Thomas Edison believed that innovation was fundamentally a social force. He felt it permeated all aspects of our lives and our society. His view of innovation as a force for positive change fundamentally shaped his sense of purpose: "...bringing out the secrets of nature and applying them for the happiness of man. I know of no better service to render during the short time we are in this world." Enter products and services here that address societal needs and strengthen civil society as a whole.

Transportation & Logistics

One of Edison's most profitable but little known inventions was the Electric Railway. Edison pioneered railroad electrification in 1880 when he built a prototype electric railway at Menlo Park running about one-third of a mile. Edison powered a small electric locomotive using a dynamo generator functioning as a motor, with current supplied from a generating station in back of the laboratory. These systems were eventually expanded, then patented and sold. Importantly, Edison's storage battery (1905) was also used to power Model T automobiles and municipal vehicles nationwide. Enter products and services here that impact means of transport on land and at sea.